Alderson-Broaddus College

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Alderson-Broaddus College, informally known as "A-B", is a private, four-year liberal arts college affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA and the West Virginia Baptist Convention located in Philippi, West Virginia, USA. Alderson-Broaddus was formed in 1932 by the union of two Baptist institutions: Alderson Academy (founded 1901) and Broaddus College (founded 1871; moved to Philippi, 1901).

Noted for its health science, natural science, education and music programs, the college offers a variety of majors in five academic divisions: Education and Special Programs, Health Sciences, Humanities, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences.

The college sponsors The West Virginians, a premier touring music ensemble offering sacred and secular music as ambassadors of the college and the state of West Virginia.

The college's sports teams are known as the "Battlers" (harkening back to the Battle of Philippi), the colors are blue and gold, and they compete in the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, a member of the NCAA's Division II.

[edit] History

Alderson-Broaddus College derives its hyphenated name from the merging of two Baptist institutions in 1932. The older of the two, Broaddus College, was founded in Winchester, Virginia in 1871 by Edward Jefferson Willis, a Baptist minister who named the new college after Rev. William Francis Ferguson Broaddus, a prominent Baptist minister at the time of the Civil War. In response to economic hard times, Broaddus College was moved across the Alleghenies to Clarksburg, West Virginia, in 1876. The college was moved again to the small town of Philippi in 1901. The other institution, Alderson Academy and Junior College, was founded in Alderson, West Virginia in 1901 by Emma Alderson, a committed Baptist laywoman. As the years passed, Broaddus became a junior college, then a senior college, and Alderson Academy added junior college status. Financial hardship in the late 1920's led to a decision to merge the two colleges, which shared common missions and outlooks as Baptist and liberal arts institutions.

Early Picture of Alderson-Broaddus campus, Philippi, WV

Since its founding, Alderson-Broaddus has been committed to a strong liberal arts education. As such, the College seeks to imbue students with an appreciation of literature and the arts, Christian faith, music and the sciences. In more recent times, the College has focused on developing programs in the natural and applied sciences as well. In 1945, Alderson-Broaddus developed the first four-year nursing and the first radiologic technology programs in West Virginia.

A portion of the physical assets of Storer College, a historically black, Baptist college (founded 1867) in Harpers Ferry, WV, were transferred to Alderson-Broaddus in 1964 and became the “Storer Scholarship” given annually to African-American students.

In 1968, the College pioneered the nation's first four-year physician assistant program, an innovation that has had significant influence on the development of the physician assistant profession nationwide. From this program emerged in 1991 the College's first graduate degree offering, the Physician Assistant Master's program.

[edit] The College Today

A-B remains a health-related and professional educational institution firmly rooted in the liberal arts which continues to maintain its long-time affiliation with the American Baptist Churches, USA, and the West Virginia Baptist Convention. The College currently has 15 buildings located on a 170-acre campus with approximately 800 students, about 300 of which live on campus. The campus occupies a rolling hilltop overlooking the Tygart Valley River and the community of Philippi with its county courthouse, church spires and the historic Philippi Covered Bridge used by both Confederate and Union troops during the first land battle of the Civil War.

Since 1998, Alderson-Broaddus has added programs in digital art, marketing, family studies, RN-BSN and LPN-BSN degree completion programs for nurses and a surgery track in the College's Master's Physician Assistant program. A-B also recently added two on-line certificates in business fundamentals and computer science; and in the spring of 2002 opened the Mollohan Workforce Training Center.

[edit] Miscellany

The Alderson Stained Glass Window (1910), New Main Hall, Alderson-Broaddus College (Originally: Old Main Building, Alderson Academy and Junior College)

• The oldest extant building on the campus, Whitescarver Hall (circa 1911), was named for George M. Whitescarver of Pruntytown, WV. The Classical Revival building was designed by the architectural firm of Holmboe and Lafferty and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.

• Alderson-Broaddus is sponsor of the “University of Hard Knocks,” an honorary society with a mission to recognize people who have made a success of their life without the benefit of higher education. The organization, founded in 1947 by late West Virginia historian and publisher Jim Comstock, voted to move its offices to the A-B campus in 1976 where it has met annually ever since.

[edit] Notable A-B alumni

• Lt. Gen. John E. Jackson, President, Fork Union Military Academy
• Ed Schrock, U.S. Congressman (R., VA), 2001-2005
• Richard F. Wilson, President, Illinois Wesleyan University
• Major General Jessica L. Wright, first woman Adjutant General of the Pennsylvania National Guard; second woman to hold such a position in the USA

[edit] References

• Smith, Barbara and Carl Briggs, Barbour County (Series: Images of America), Arcadia Publishing, Charleston, SC, 2000. (Includes many historical college photos.)

• Withers, Richard and Martha Rose Roy, Light on the Hill, A Pictorial History of Alderson-Broaddus College, The Donning Company/Publishers, Virginia Beach, VA, 1995.

[edit] External link

• Alderson-Broaddus College Home Page
• The University of Hard Knocks